Van wie was George IV van het Verenigd Koninkrijk?

George IV August Frederik van Hannover (Engels: George Augustus Frederick; St. James's Palace, 12 augustus 1762 – Windsor Castle, 26 juni 1830) was koning van het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Ierland en koning van Hannover van 1820 tot 1830. Hij was prins regent voor zijn vader van 1811 tot diens dood in 1820 en stond vooral bekend om de overwinning van het Verenigd Koninkrijk in de napoleontische oorlogen.

George was een koppige monarch, die zich vaak bemoeide met de politiek, vooral op het gebied van de katholieke emancipatie, maar niet zoveel als zijn vader. Zowel tijdens zijn regentschap als tijdens zijn koningschap was het vooral Robert Jenkinson, de tweede graaf van Liverpool, die de regering beheerste als minister-president. Andere ministers-presidenten onder George IV waren George Canning in 1827, Frederick John Robinson de graaf van Ripon, van 1827 tot 1828 en Arthur Wellesley de hertog van Wellington, van 1828 tot 1830.

Koning George IV staat vandaag de dag vooral bekend om zijn extravagante levensstijl in de periode toen hij Prince of Wales, prins-regent en koning was. In 1797 was zijn gewicht al rond de 111 kilogram. Hij had een zeer slechte relatie met zijn vader, George III, en ook met zijn tweede echtgenote Caroline van Brunswijk. Hij verbood haar zelfs om bij zijn kroning aanwezig te zijn. George IV liet door John Nash het Royal Pavilion in Brighton bouwen en liet Buckingham House verbouwen en herinrichten en hij liet door Jeffry Wyattville Windsor Castle verbouwen. Hij was zeer betrokken bij de oprichting van de National Gallery in Londen en King's College in Londen.

Mary Robinson (née Darby; 27 November 1757 – 26 December 1800) was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist and celebrity figure. She lived in England, in the cities of Bristol and London; she also lived in France and Germany for a time. She enjoyed poetry from the age of seven and started working, first as a teacher and then as an actress, from the age of 14. She wrote many plays, poems and novels. She was a celebrity, gossiped about in newspapers, famous for her acting and writing. During her lifetime she was known as "the English Sappho". She earned her nickname "Perdita" for her role as Perdita (heroine of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale) in 1779, and was the first public mistress of King George IV while he was still Prince of Wales.

Grace Dalrymple Elliott (c. 1754 – 16 May 1823) was a Scottish courtesan, writer and spy resident in Paris during the French Revolution. She was an eyewitness to events detailed in her memoirs, Journal of my life during the French Revolution (Ma Vie sous la Révolution) published posthumously in 1859. She was mistress, first to the future George IV, by whom she is said to have borne an illegitimate daughter, and then to the Duke of Orléans. Elliott trafficked correspondence and helped condemned Royalists and members of the French nobility escape from the First French Republic during the Reign of Terror. She was arrested several times but managed to avoid the guillotine, and was released following the military coup that ended the Terror and resulted in the execution of Robespierre.

In the acclaimed but widely controversial 2001 film adaptation of her memoirs by French New Wave director Éric Rohmer as The Lady and the Duke, Grace Elliot was played by English actress Lucy Russell.

Olga Alexandrovna Zherebtsova (née Zubova; Russian: Ольга Александровна Жеребцова; 1766–1849), also known as Madame Gerebtzoff, was a Russian aristocrat and socialite, known foremost for her political involvement and love life. She was the sister of the celebrated Zubov brothers, Prince Platon and Counts Nikolay and Valerian.

After her brothers' fall from grace following Catherine II's death, they conspired with Count Pahlen to assassinate her successor Paul whom they viewed as the author of their misfortunes. The conspirators met and discussed their plans at Zherebtsova's house. Some maintain that she appropriated the funds the British government passed through her lover Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth to the conspirators. "Once diplomatic relations with England were broken, Whitworth was ordered to leave the capital with all his staff".

Zherebtsova followed Lord Whitworth to England where she was shocked to learn about his prospective betrothal to the widow of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. It was rumored that Madame Gerebtzoff extorted from her rival some 10,000 pounds before turning her attention to the Prince Regent, whose mistress she is said to have become. She is even said to have given birth to a natural son, named George Nord, after his purported royal father.

In the declining years of her life, Madame Gerebtzoff returned to the Russian capital, where she again became immersed in court intrigues through her powerful son-in-law, Prince Aleksey Orlov. In the 1840s, she was the patron of Alexander Herzen, who would recall her character and opinions with admiration in his memoirs "My Past and Thoughts":

Like a tree in winter, she maintained the linear outline of her boughs after the leaves had fallen off and the scraggy bare branches had been pinched with cold, all the more clearly demonstrating her magnificent stature, her daring bulk, and the trunk, though white with frost, still stalking lordly and sulkily and braving every tempest and gust.

Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham (née Denison; 29 March 1770 – 11 October 1861) was an English courtier and noblewoman. She is thought to be the last mistress of George IV of the United Kingdom.